Horizon League

MARCH TO MADNESS As the countdown to Selection Sunday continues, the Daily News previews each conference tournament on the day it starts to help you get a jump on finding those sleepers for your bracket. We expect a cut if you win your office pool. Horizon League Regular-season champ: Valparaiso won its first Horizon championship since joining the league in 2007-08 . . . Second-leading scorer Kevin Van Wijk attended Katholieke Scholengemeenschap Hoofddorp in the Netherlands.

INDIANAPOLIS - Butler said it will leave the Horizon League immediately and join the Atlantic Ten on July 1. Late Tuesday afternoon, the school announced it would begin playing in the A-10 this fall, one year sooner than originally planned. School officials said the two leagues were able to accommodate a quicker move. "The Atlantic Ten is looking forward to welcoming Butler immediately for participation in our league," commissioner Bernadette McGlade said in a statement.

VIRGINIA Commonwealth, George Mason and Butler have had talks with the Atlantic 10 about joining the league for the 2013-14 academic year, according to a report from CBSSports.com. Each school would need approval from its respective school board to move. VCU and George Mason currently belong to the Colonial Athletic Association; Butler is in the Horizon League. Sources told the website that VCU's Board of Visitors had met at least twice about a potential move and Butler has talked to the A-10 about the league helping financially.

Butler is poised to leave the Atlantic Ten and join the new Big East, according to a report Friday by the Indianapolis Star. Citing an anonymous source, the Star said the school expects to make the announcement next week. The report did not say when the move would become official for the Bulldogs, who are in their first season in the A-10 after leaving the Horizon League. The new Big East will consist of eight teams: Butler, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Villanova.

THE FIRST TWO conference tournaments begin Tuesday with the Big South and the Horizon getting under way. The first two bids go out on Saturday when the Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley settle their league championships. From today until next Thursday, March 14, the Daily News will preview conference tournaments as they start. Let the wonderful madness begin. Big South Regular-season champs: High Point (17-12) won the North Division and Charleston Southern (17-11) will be co-No.

Roman Catholic's Courtney Stanley, a senior point guard, has made an oral commitment to play basketball at Loyola University in Chicago. "I really got close with Loyola's coaches, got to know them real well over the summer," Stanley said. "That was a big factor in my decision. " The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Stanley averaged about eight points per game last season while helping the Cahillites to a 28-3 record and a 59-56 upset of Neumann-Goretti in the Catholic League championship game.

The madness begins tonight as the Big South, Horizon League and Ohio Valley kick off conference tournament play. Though each league has clear favorites, you can bet that just as sure as Dick Vitale needs decaffeinated coffee, upsets will occur. The Daily News will take a look as each conference begins its postseason tournament, starting with the three leagues today. Big South Regular-season champ: Coastal Carolina (26-5) is coached by Cliff Ellis who also has guided South Alabama, Clemson and Auburn to 20-win seasons.

Marcus Morris scored 18 points to lead top-ranked Kansas to an 80-68 victory over 14th-ranked Texas last night in Austin, Texas. The Jayhawks easily handled an opponent that a few weeks ago was supposed to challenge them for the Big Twelve title. Kansas (23-1 overall, 9-0 league) outmuscled and outhustled the Longhorns (19-5, 5-4) in just about every way, holding the top-scoring team in the conference to 37 percent shooting and scoring 27 points off 17 turnovers. Freshman J'Covan Brown scored 28 points for the Longhorns, who have lost five of their last seven games after gaining the first No. 1 ranking in school history a month ago. Butler 62, Loyola of Chicago 47 - Matt Howard scored 20 points to send 18th-ranked Butler past Loyola of Chicago in Indianapolis.

Matt Howard had 19 points and eight rebounds, Gordon Hayward finished with 18 points and No. 15 Butler (22-2, 13-1 Horizon League) hit 13 three-pointers in an 80-61 victory over Illinois-Chicago in Indianapolis last night. The Flames (11-14, 4-11) were led by Josh Mayo with 19 points. Illinois-Chicago played without coach Jimmy Collins, who was in Syracuse, N.Y., attending the funeral of his mother, Lorraine Collins Trapp. Butler also played with a heavy heart less than 24 hours after Lorin Maurer, the girlfriend of Kevin Kuwik, the team's coordinator of basketball operations, died in a plane crash in Clarence Center, N.Y., near Buffalo.

Gordon Hayward scored 18 points, Willie Veasley had 13, and No. 13 Butler needed a spurt in the final six minutes to hold off Valparaiso, 59-51, last night in Indianapolis. Butler (19-1, 10-0 Horizon League) won its 11th in a row and matched the conference record with its 21st consecutive victory against a league foe. The Bulldogs will try to break the record tomorrow at Green Bay, which holds the mark. Valparaiso (6-16, 3-8) was led by Urule Igbavboa with 15 points and Logan Jones with 10 but couldn't avoid losing its seventh straight to Butler.

Butler is poised to leave the Atlantic Ten and join the new Big East, according to a report Friday by the Indianapolis Star. Citing an anonymous source, the Star said the school expects to make the announcement next week. The report did not say when the move would become official for the Bulldogs, who are in their first season in the A-10 after leaving the Horizon League. The new Big East will consist of eight teams: Butler, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Villanova.

THE FIRST TWO conference tournaments begin Tuesday with the Big South and the Horizon getting under way. The first two bids go out on Saturday when the Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley settle their league championships. From today until next Thursday, March 14, the Daily News will preview conference tournaments as they start. Let the wonderful madness begin. Big South Regular-season champs: High Point (17-12) won the North Division and Charleston Southern (17-11) will be co-No.

THEY WERE supposed to meet on Dec. 28, as part of the Gotham Classic. But weather got in the way. So exactly 2 months later, Temple (19-8, 8-5 Atlantic 10) will play Detroit (19-10, 11-4 Horizon League) Thursday night at the Liacouras Center. Two weeks ago the Owls, who are trying to get to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth consecutive year, were coming off a bad home loss to Duquesne. Since then, they've won by a point at Massachusetts, beaten La Salle decisively on North Broad Street and rolled at Charlotte.

THE NATION remembers Butler playing four dome games in 2010 and 2011. Inside the Horizon League, the Bulldogs played in many gyms. So, coming to Saint Joseph's to play their first Atlantic 10 game was very familiar territory. The reality is that it might not matter where Butler plays or who it plays. Brad Stevens' team just plays the game with passion and intelligence for however long it takes. The Hawks did a lot of things right Wednesday night at a jammed and quite loud Hagan Arena.

NEW YORK - Although a scorecard is needed to keep track of the shifting teams in the Atlantic Ten men's basketball conference, one thing that remained the same is the quality of the competition. The league's coaches and media members think St. Joseph's is the class of that competition. The Hawks were picked as the preseason favorite in the 16-team league, which, at least for this year, may be as strong as it has ever been. It is a remarkable resurgence for the Hawks, who were 11-22 two seasons ago and 20-14 last year while earning an NIT bid. With all five starters back, plus A-10 sixth man of the year Ronald Roberts Jr., one can see why there is so much optimism.

NEW YORK - In the history of the Atlantic 10, one team has made the Final Four (Massachusetts, 1996). With very bold moves earlier this year, the league got two schools that account for three of the last 12 Final Four spots and just happen to have two of America's best coaches of any age. Losing Temple and Charlotte after this season to football riches could have been disastrous. There is only joy when Butler and VCU arrive to join the party. Butler's Brad Stevens sees the game through young eyes with a much older man's vision, VCU's Shaka Smart coaches without fear and his team plays just like he coaches.

INDIANAPOLIS - Butler said it will leave the Horizon League immediately and join the Atlantic Ten on July 1. Late Tuesday afternoon, the school announced it would begin playing in the A-10 this fall, one year sooner than originally planned. School officials said the two leagues were able to accommodate a quicker move. "The Atlantic Ten is looking forward to welcoming Butler immediately for participation in our league," commissioner Bernadette McGlade said in a statement.

Butler has become the newest member of the Atlantic Ten Conference and more changes could be in the offing. In the 2013-14 school year, Butler, which offers 17 sports, will become a full-fledged member of the A-10, it was announced on Wednesday. Butler had been a member of the Horizon League. Published reports have linked Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason of the Colonial Athletic Association to the A-10, but league commissioner Bernadette McGlade was noncommittal when asked whether Butler's addition signaled the end of expansion in 2012.

VIRGINIA Commonwealth, George Mason and Butler have had talks with the Atlantic 10 about joining the league for the 2013-14 academic year, according to a report from CBSSports.com. Each school would need approval from its respective school board to move. VCU and George Mason currently belong to the Colonial Athletic Association; Butler is in the Horizon League. Sources told the website that VCU's Board of Visitors had met at least twice about a potential move and Butler has talked to the A-10 about the league helping financially.

MARCH TO MADNESS As the countdown to Selection Sunday continues, the Daily News previews each conference tournament on the day it starts to help you get a jump on finding those sleepers for your bracket. We expect a cut if you win your office pool. Horizon League Regular-season champ: Valparaiso won its first Horizon championship since joining the league in 2007-08 . . . Second-leading scorer Kevin Van Wijk attended Katholieke Scholengemeenschap Hoofddorp in the Netherlands.